Passenger life-buoy.



K. TAIRA & K. MASUDA.

PASSENGER LlFE BUOY.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 1917.

1 376,826 Patented Aug. 27, 191 8.

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K. TMRA & K. MAsuoA.

PASSENGER LIFE BUOY.

APPLICATION FILED MM'ZI, I91].

v1,276,826. Patented Aug. 27, 1918.

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K. TAIRA & K. MASUDA.

PASSENGER LIFE BUOY.

. APPLICATION FILED MAY 21.1917. 1,276,826. Patented Aug. 21, 1918.

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ms emme PATENT OFFICE. I

KAnEzo TAIRA AND KIKUJIRO MAsunA, or DENVER, COLORADO.

PASSENGER LIFE-BUOY.

Toal l whom may concern: v

Be it known that W6, I{AMEZO TAIRA and KIKUJIR MAsUDA, subjects of theEmpirelof Japan, residing at the 'city and county of Denver and State ofColorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in PassengerLife Bu'oys; and "we do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description oflthe invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters ofreference marked thereon, which form part of this specification. a

Our invention relates to improvements in life buoys, or what we preferto term fpassenger life buoys for the reason that the structure is ofsuch'character that it may have the necessary capacity for carrying anumber of people. The ordinary size such as would commonly be carried bypassenger essels, would probably be of such size or capacity, to holdfrom a half dozen to a dozen people with comfort.

Furthermore,

comes practicable to store a. considerable passenger steamer. Thestructure is composedfof an outer covering of water-proof material ascanvas or other suitable relatively toughfab-ric which is held expandedtough material which may be'bent into cir- -cular form. Any desirednumber of these ringsor hoops may be employed. The body of the structureis substantially spherical in shape, the bottom, however having a flatcircular surface from which is built up a casing in which-' is journaleda spool with which a weight is connected by means of aropc or cable, theweight being; employed as ballast or as a means for normally maintainingthe structure in the upright position. Extending upwardly fro-m the baseoft-he the structure is of suchcharacter that when in use it may bequickly and easily collapsed whereby-it may be con- .finedwithin smallcompass and, therefor e,

occupying but little room whereby it ,be-

bottom. structure are posts or stanchlons wh ch are Specification ofLetters Patent. Patented A110, 27, 1918,

Application filed May 21, 1917. Serial releases.

hinged at theirlower extremities and also intermediate theirfextremities' for collapsiliary postsbeing also covered by the canvas orwater-proof, fabric andp rovided with windows or transparent membersthrough which upper extremities of theauxiliary posts belng connectedwith a suitable water-tight closure, which, however, has a circularopening through which projects an air-tube which may extend a suitabledistance above the top in order to supply the occupants with thenecessary air. I i i Having briefly outlined our improvement, we willproceed to describe the same in detail, reference being madeto theaccompanying drawing in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof. Inthis drawing Figure 1 is a side elevation showing our improved life buoyin use.

Fig. 2 is a central Vertical section of the structure, the partsbeingshown on a much larger scale than in Fig.1.

Fig. 3 is a horiz'ontal section taken on the V 'l1ne 33 Fig. 2. numberofgthe jdevicesupon theo'rdmary within a container, the, parts beingshown slightly separated as distinguished from the completely collapsedposition for. the purthe same parts in all theviews.

a lookoutmay be maintained if desired, the

Fig. 4 is a section taken through the'struo ture shown in the collapsedposition and Let the numeral 5 designate ahorizontally I disposedbottomplate which is circular in shape and provided with an opening 6. To

the inner edge of the plate ,5 are secured" upwardly projecting parts 7in which is journaled a shaft or spindle 8 upon which is wound a cable9, one extremity of which is attached to the shaft, while to itsopposite extremity is attached a sectional weight 10 for purposes ofballast. This weight may be lowered to a considerable. depth if desiredor it may be kept nearer thesurface, de-

pending upon the conditions and 'requiretom structure being of suchcharacter as to bottom plate 5. rights are normally securedin theupright prevent the Water from entering the inclosure. The shaft 8 isprovided with a hand-crank 12 which is arranged within the structure andis accessible to the occupants and through the medium of which theballast weight may be raised and loweredat pleasure.

Secured to the bottomplate 5 is the lower edge 13 of the water-proofcanvas lat which constitutes the cover of the structure. This edge 13 ofthe canvas is clamped between the plate 5 and a lower plate 15, throughthe medium of bolts 16 which are adjustable whereby a tight joint may beformed at the bottom of the apparatus; 7 Above thebottom plate 5, wesecure the canvas in any suitable manner to a series of interior hoopsor rings 96 whichvary in size'according to their location, the one inthe middle when the structure is expanded being the largest, the othersabove andbelow gradually getting smallerxby virtue of the spherical formof the device. The upper edge of the body of the canvas is connectedwith a top ring 17 which may be made of a number of strands of rope'orheavy cord, or otany other suitable material. Ve prefer, however, thatthe entire structure should be made of such material as to give thestructure a relative high degree'of buoyancy, and for this reason weprefer to avoid as far as possible theuse' oi -heavy material as metal,thoughit must be under-- stood thatwe do not limit ourselves to anyspecialmaterial, or other details ot'structure illustrated in thedrawing.

As illustrated, the top ring 17 surrounds a central opening 18 at thetop or the struc ture and through this opening extend a number ofauxiliary posts 19 which are fitted to the upper extremities of themainposts or stanchions 2O whoselower extremities are'hingedly connected asshown at 21 with brackets 22 which are secured to the These mainposts'or upposition by means of spring actuated'lock ing pawls or dogswhich may be of any suitable structure. As shown in the drawing,

gages a stop 26 formed on-the pin.

pins 23 are slidably mounted in guides 21 and are each surrounded by aspiral spring 25, one extremity of whichengages the up per guide, whileits opposite extremity eny virtue of this structure, the spring actsupon the pin to force its extremity below the lower-most guide, into arecess 26 formed in the adjacent bracket,.thus pre ventingzthe mainuprights or stanchions 20 from moving out of their normal position,whilethe locking devices are inplace (see Fig. 2). These uprights-20 areprovidedinof the structure (see Fig. 1) as will be hereinafter morefully described. The pins 27 pass through perforated lugs formed onmetal parts 30 with which the adjacent extremities of the two parts 28and 29 of each post are provided. The parts of the extremities of theseposts which extendoutwardly in a horizontal direction beyond the hingepins, contain fiat engaging surfaces whereby the posts are lockedagainstbreaking or moving inwardly by virtue of their jointedconnection. Furthermore, when the structure is expanded and in use, theposts are further held in such'position by means of connecting rods 31,two of the posts of each pair being connected by one of these rods,

the posts having staples 32 which the hooked extremities of the rodsengage in'such a manner that the rods may be completely detached ifdesired when it becomes necessary to collapse the structure.

As shown in Fig. 3, particularly, ofthe drawing, the middle outerri'ng26 which is directly in engagement with the inner surface of the canvas14 is connected by means of expanding members 82 with a similar innerring 33, the members 82 constituting spacers between the inner and outerrings, the inner ring being connected with each post or stanchion 20 bymeans of aQnumber of cords or ropes 34 whose outer extremities aresecured to the ring 33 at a number of points, while their innerextremities are connected with a ring 35, the latter in turn beingconnected by a flexible member 36 with the adjacent post- 20 through'themedium of a U-bolt 37 whichis adjustable by means of a nut 38' for thepurpose of tightening the structure and maintaining the inner ring inits proper relative position.

extremities with the upper extremity of the post 20,'by means ofbrackets 39 which are secured to the posts 19 and project beyond thesame on opposite sides forming a sort oi groove to receive the upperextremities of the posts 20, these brackets having hooks 40 whichinterlock with pins-41 with which the upper extremities of the posts-20are provided. The upper extremities of, the auxiliary posts 19 areequipped with plates 42 which project inwardly and are perforated toreceive locking bolts 4C3 whose upper extremities are connected as shownat 4:1 with a cover 15. To the body 14 ofthe canvas covering at the topis secured a canvas extension 46 which completely surrounds theauxiliary posts 19, the lower portion of this extension 46 being held inplace by an outer ring 47. The upper edge of the canvas extension 42 isbent inwardly as shown at 48 over the tops of the auxiliary posts 19,and this inner edge is clamped tightly between the top plates 42 of theauxiliary posts and the cover 45 through the medium of the locking bolts43 whose nuts 49 are equipped with lever arms 50 to facilitateadjustment. Between the outer edge of the cover and the structuredirectly underneath, is located a packing ring 51 whereby a water-tightjoint is formed. In the center of the cover 45 is formed an opening 52from which extends upwardly an air pipe 53 whose lower extremity isthreaded into a collar which is exteriorly flanged as shown at 54, andsecured to the cover 45 by bolts 55. By virtue of this construction thetop of the device will be completely closed except where the air pipe islocated.

Secured to the lower member 29 of the posts 20, is an air pump 56 whichis connected by means of a flexible conduit 57 with the atmosphere, saidconduit passing through an opening 58 formed in the canvas 14, above thewater level. This pump may 30 be employed for the purpose of maintaininga circulation of air through the interior of the structure, when for anyreason it may be necessary or desirable to do so.

When it is desired to collapse the structure the locking pins 23 aredisengaged from the brackets 22, and the rods 31 which connect the postsare detached. Furthermore, the air pipe 53 is removed after which thelower extremities of the auxiliary posts are detached from the upperends of the main posts, and when this is done the posts 20 may be brokenoutwardly on their hinges and the structure collapses Within a suitablereceptacle 59. It will also be understood that the ballast weight 10 maybe removed when it is desired to collapse the structure into thesmallest possible space.

When the form of construction illustrated in Fig. 2 is employed, thatis, that including the auxiliary posts 19, a lookout may be maintainedthrough windows 60 with which the canvas extension 46 is provided. Infact, this is the object of this extension feature. When it is notemployed, the upper. extremities of the posts 20 may be suitablyconnected with the upper ring 17 at the top of the structure, and thecover suitably connected or secured to the said top ring in such amanner as to form a watertight joint. In this case the air tube or pipe53 connected with the cover, will be employed in the same manner asheretofore described. As shown in the drawing the cover is composed of aflat plate, a lower ring and an interposed gasket 51. The ring isprovided with a lug 84 which is hingedly connected as shown at 86 with alug or arm 85 which is secured to or formed integrally with the coverplate. By virtue of this construction the ring and plate parts of thecover may be separated when the cover is detached by removing the nuts49 from the bolts 43.

As illustrated in the drawing (see Fig. 3),, boxes 61 are secured to thebottom plate 5 on opposite sides of the Windlass structure. These boxeshave hinged lids and may be utilized for storing provisions.

When it is desired to expand the structure, a rope 62 connected as shownat 63 with one of the lower members 29 of one of the main posts maybeutilized in connection with pulleys 64 mounted on the adjacent postmembers 29. By connecting this rope in the first instance with one ofthe pulleys of the member 29 opposite that with which the extremity ofthe rope is connected, a leverage may be maintained to facilitate the.lifting of the structure for expansion purposes. Again, by connectingthe rope with a number of pulleys which are mounted on each of the twomembers 29, further power may be maintained on the principle of theordinary block and tackle.

The structure for the purpose of launching from a ship, may be equippedwith a flexible loop 65, which in turn may be connected with a float 66by a rope 67, the float in turn being connected by means of a rope orcable 68 with an anchor 69. The structure may first be dropped from theship when the parts 65 and 67 are in the position shown by dotted linesin Fig. 1 and after it has entered the water, the float and anchor maybe dropped. The float should be of 105 suflicient buoyancy to supportthe anchor in deep water, or in water of such depth that the anchorcannot reach the bottom with the float on top.

The structure is preferably further pro- 110 vided with a rope ladder 70which is connected with the upper part of the structure at one extremityas shown at 71, while its other extremity is free to enter the water.This ladder will enable a person to enter the 115 structure after it hasbeen launched, through the aid of those on the inside who, of course,will have to loosen the cover by the manipulation of the fastening nuts49. Or the lad der may be utilized to enable one or more 120 persons tomaintain themselves above the water and on the outside of the structure.

Attention is called to the fact that in Fig.

4 the top of the receptacle 59 is broken away to facilitate a betterillustration of the struc- 125 ture which is not completely collapsedfor the reason heretofore stated.

The rings or hoops 96 may be of any suitable structure. As shown in thedrawing they are composed of a number of relatively 130 small hoop,members, whi h are wound exteriorly to form asortofcablen It: isimportant. that; they be composed of some rela? tively light materialin. order to add buoyancy to the structure, it being desirable-to proof;Hencc,-if in connecting the hoops.-

to the canvas any small perforations are made they will :be filled bythe exteriorcoat v ing of paint or othen water proofasubstance. Havingthus described our invention, what we. claim is:

1. A life buoy approximately spherical in shape comprising aninnerjlointedastanchion i structure, expanding rings, and a flexiblecoveruponwhich said rings act, said rings being of varying diameter tomaintain the spherical contour, the intermediate portions of thestanchion structure being spaced from the rings and vthe covering.

2-. A lifebuoy approximately spherical in shape comprising aninnerjointed stanchion structure,- expanding rings, means; forconnectingthe'rin s with said Structure, a flexible cover, and meansforconnecting'the rings withnthie cover, said rings being of varyingdiameter to maintain the spherical contour, the intermediate portions ofthe stanchion structure being spaced from the rings and the covering.

A life buoy approximately spherical in shape having an inner jointedstanchion structure, expanding rings connected with said structure, anda flexible covering also connected withsaid rings, said rings being ofvarying diameter to maintain th spherical contour, the intermediateportions ot the stanchion structurebeing spacedfrom the rings and thecovering 4. Apparatus of the class describedapproximately sphericaliii-shape including. a rigid. base, posts extending upwardly from saidbase, a flexible covering connected with the base and with the postsabove the base, inner expanding rings connected with the covering, andmeans for connectingone of said rings with the posts, said-rings beingof varying diameter to maintain the spherical contour, theintermediateportions of the posts being spaced from the rings. and thecovering. I

5. Apparatus ot the class describedineluding a rigidbase,aflexible'coveringcon nected. with the base,- postshingedlyzconnectedwith. the base and extending. upwardly therefrom,-the-posts being jointed and'the covering beingconnected with the uppercx-- tremities of the posts,- expanding rings of varying; diameter:engaging the covering above the base. to form a structure approximatelyspherical; in, shape, and means for connectingonc of the rings with theposts.

6.; Apparatus of the class described including a base having acentral'opening, a boxed closure extendingabove the opening,ashaftjournaled in said'opening, a ballast weight, flexiblemeans-connecting said weight with the shaft, a. flex-iblecoveringconnected with the periphery of said base, posts secured to andextending, upwardly from the base, the flexible covering being connectedwith thetopsof-the posts, cxpandingrings of varying diameter engagingthe covering between the base: and the top ozfi-the posts to form astructure approximately spherical in shape, airing, spaced inwardly fromthe median expandingring, and flexible means connecting said inwardlyspaced ring-with the posts.

7.; Apparatus of the class described includinga base, a, flexiblecovering connected with said base, posts extending upwardly front-thease, the flexible covering being connected with the tops of the posts,expand' i-g rings of varying diameter engagingthecovering-between thebase and the tops ofthe posts to form a structure approximatelyspherical-in shape, anda connection between the median ring and theposts.

8. Apparatus of the class described including a base, a flexiblecovering connected with thebase, posts secured to and extending upwardlyfrom the base, the flexible covering-being suitably connected with thetops of the posts, auxiliary posts detachably con nected with the mainposts and extending above the same, an extension flexible coveringforthe auxiliary posts, windows in said extension covering, a top closureconnected with the auxiliary posts, expanding rings. of varying diameterengaging the covering between the base and the tops of the posts toform. a structure approximately spherical in shape, and aconncctionbetween the median ring and the posts 9. Apparatus of the classdescribed including a rigid base, posts hingedly connected with the baseand extending upwardly therefrom, adjustable means for locking the poststo the base,'the posts being jointed to form a-collapsible structure, aflexible covering connected with the base and the tops of-the posts,expanding rings for the coveringintermediate the post extremities, andmeans for connectingthe median ring with the'posts;

10.'Apparatus of the class described including a rigid base, postsarranged in pairs theirlower extremities being connected with i thebase, rods connectingthe posts of each In testimony whereof We aflix oursignapair above 1She1 balsoe, a, fleziblle covering colrlitures inpresence of a Witness.

neoted wit me ase an t e tops of t e posts, expanding rings for thecovering, said A 5 rings being located intermediate the post eX- Itremities, and means for connecting the me- Witness:

dian ring with the posts. A. EBERT OBRIEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C.

